Michael Tucker is an American documentary film director, best known for his recent documentary The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair . He also directed a documentary in Iraq during the 2003 Iraqi War entitled Gunner Palace . He was born in Hawaii.
From May 2003 to June 2004 he traveled to Iraq numerous times during the height of the Iraqi insurgency for the purpose of putting together a documentary. For two months he lived with the 2/3 Artillery, a.k.a. "The Gunners" in one of Uday Hussein's palaces where they were stationed. His film was aimed at capturing the lives and humanity of the soldiers who were situated in the center of Baghdad, one of the most volatile regions of the city. The film was co-directed by Petra Epperlein and distributed by Palm Pictures, with a release in the United States on March 4, 2005.
He also co-directed a 16-minute short film called The Last Cowboy with Epperlein in 1998.
Rory Elizabeth Katherine Kennedy is an American documentary filmmaker. Kennedy has made documentary films that center on social issues such as addiction, her opposition to nuclear power, the treatment of prisoners-of-war, and the politics of the Mexican border fence. She is the youngest child of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel.
Abu Ghraib prison was a prison complex in Abu Ghraib, Iraq, located 32 kilometers (20 mi) west of Baghdad. Abu Ghraib prison was opened in the 1950s and served as a maximum-security prison. From the 1970s, the prison was used by Saddam Hussein to hold political prisoners and later the United States to hold Iraqi prisoners. It developed a reputation for torture and extrajudicial killing, and was closed in 2014.
Kenneth John Bigley was a British civil engineer who was kidnapped by Islamic extremists in the al-Mansour district of Baghdad, Iraq, on 16 September 2004, along with his colleagues, U.S. citizens Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong. Following the murders of Hensley and Armstrong by beheading over the course of three days, Bigley was killed in the same manner two weeks later, despite the attempted intervention of the Muslim Council of Britain and the indirect intervention of the British government. Videos of the killings were posted on websites and blogs.
Jonathan Moss Tucker is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Virgin Suicides (1999), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), Hostage (2005), In the Valley of Elah (2007), The Ruins (2008), and Charlie's Angels (2019). He has appeared in the television series The Black Donnellys (2007), Parenthood (2011–2013), Kingdom (2014–2017), Justified (2015), Snowfall (2018), Westworld (2018–2022), City on a Hill (2019), and Debris (2021).
Reginald Thomas Keys is the father of a British serviceman killed in the Iraq War. He stood in the 2005 general election as an anti-war independent candidate for in Sedgefield, a constituency represented by the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997 and held various shadow cabinet posts from 1987 to 1994. Blair was Member of Parliament (MP) for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007, and was special envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East from 2007 to 2015. He is the second-longest-serving prime minister in post-war British history after Margaret Thatcher, the longest-serving Labour politician to have held the office, and the first and only person to date to lead the party to three consecutive general election victories.
Gunner Palace is a 2004 documentary film by Michael Tucker, which had a limited release in the United States on March 4, 2005. The film was an account of the complex realities of the situation in Iraq during 2003–2004 amidst the Iraqi insurgency not seen on the nightly news. Told first-hand by American troops stationed in the middle of Baghdad, Gunner Palace presents a portrait of a dangerous and chaotic war.
Guy Henry is an English actor whose roles include Henrik Hanssen in Holby City, Pius Thicknesse in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Part 2, Cassius in Rome and Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One.
Michael Ware is an Australian journalist formerly working in CNN and was for several years based in their Baghdad bureau. He joined CNN in May 2006, after five years with sister publication, Time. His last on-air appearance for the network was in December 2009.
Tony Blair's term as the prime minister of the United Kingdom began on 2 May 1997 when he accepted an invitation of Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, succeeding John Major of the Conservative Party, and ended on 27 June 2007 upon his resignation. While serving as prime minister, Blair also served as First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Labour Party. He and Gordon Brown both extensively used the New Labour branding while in office, which was presented as the brand of a newly reformed party that had altered Clause IV and endorsed market economics. He is the second-longest-serving prime minister in post-war British history after Margaret Thatcher, the longest-serving Labour politician to have held the office, and the first and only person to date to lead the party to three consecutive general election victories.
The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair is a 2006 documentary film by American documentary filmmaker Michael Tucker.
The cinema of Iraq went through a downturn under Saddam Hussein's regime. The development of film and film-going in Iraq reflects the drastic historical shifts that Iraq has experienced in the 20th century. The Iraq War which began in 2003 had an influence on many films being produced.
Yunis Khatayer Abbas is an Iraqi journalist who was imprisoned and tortured in 1998 for writings he had made as a journalist under Saddam Hussein. Five years later in 2003, he was detained by United States troops and imprisoned at Abu Ghraib prison for nine months. Although innocent he was suspected of plotting to assassinate then British prime minister Tony Blair along with his two brothers. During his time at Abu Ghraib he assisted American prison guards in basic translation to helping quell protests and riots; he was released in 2004.
The Special Relationship is a 2010 biographical drama television film directed by Richard Loncraine and written by Peter Morgan. It is the third film in Morgan's informal "Blair trilogy", which dramatizes the political career of British Prime Minister Tony Blair (1997–2007), following The Deal (2003) and The Queen (2006), both directed by Stephen Frears.
The Iraq Inquiry was a British public inquiry into the nation's role in the Iraq War. The inquiry was announced in 2009 by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and published in 2016 with a public statement by Chilcot.
Tony Blair was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007.
Erik Jensen is an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, and director.
Tamer El Said is an Egyptian filmmaker. He wrote, produced and directed numerous films including Take Me (2004), an award-winning documentary about five friends who unwittingly became political prisoners in Morocco, and the short film On a Monday (2005) on an old married couple who rediscover their relationship. His first fiction feature In the Last Days of the City was shot in Cairo, Berlin, Baghdad and Beirut and premiered in 2016 at the Berlin International Film Festival. He is co-founder of several independent initiatives in Cairo, including Cimatheque Alternative Film Centre, Mosireen, and Zero Production.
Fightville is a mixed martial arts documentary film released in 2011. It was co-directed by Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker.